Penang sees fewer jobs for construction, renovation industry

Published By : 09 Jun 2014 |Published By : QYRESEARCH

The construction and renovation jobs in George Town, Penang are fewer for the current year. As compared with 2013, the jobs upheld in 2014 are very little. Last year, around 412 projects were valued at RM8.9bil, comprising 358 private sector projects and 54 government projects in Penang.

According to the Penang Master Builders and Building Materials Dealers Association president DatukLim Kai Seng, there will be 10% drop in the value of jobs given out in Penang for the current year. According to the latest Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) report, only 55 jobs with a value of RM391.5mil were expectedly given out in the first quarter of 2014, as compared to the 41 projects with a value of RM651mil in the first quarter 2013. Of the 55, 17 of the government projects are remaining from the private sector.

As per Lim, another 5% to 10% increase in the construction costs was expected soon that would be passed on to purchasers, however many developers were waiting to commit to new launches due to impending Goods and Services Tax of the new real property gains tax and rising raw material costs.

The current cost of building a high-rise unit is RM200 to RM400 per sq ft on a net sellable basis, Lim added. As the price of cement has shot up to RM19 per 50kg bag from RM17 per 50kg bag, the cost of construction will soon increase too.

For the project plan and the value of construction and renovation jobs to be created by the private sector in Penang Lim said, the next three to four years of the RM4.56bil worth of new property projects are planned for a launch in 2014 by eight developers. This project would generate about 40% or RM1.8bil for the construction industry. From the total value, the RM600mil or 30% of RM1.8bil will be given out to the renovation companies, and a total of RM2.4bil shall be spent over a period of three to four years.

By the end of this year, the price of sand will be increased by between RM2 and RM5 per cubic m from RM60 per cubic m, added Lim.